On location, algorithms, and the honest question behind it all.

I built a house in Grimma. 30 kilometres from Leipzig. Closer to family. Three daughters. A wife. A garden. By the end of the year, maybe even fibre internet.

And I sometimes wonder if it was a mistake. Not for my life. But for my career.

The uncomfortable truth about algorithms

LinkedIn, Behance, Instagram – they all favour major cities. Those living in Hamburg, Munich or Cologne get shown more often. Receive more enquiries. Land on the right desks more frequently.

That’s not a myth. That’s mechanics.

And at the same time: anyone who thinks their city protects them from competition is wrong. You’re not competing with the agency around the corner. You’re competing with the best in Tokyo, São Paulo and New York. Daily. Digitally. Without time zones.

Your location doesn’t protect you. But it sometimes opens doors that stay closed online. You can’t just go for a beer with → Tobias van Schneider in New York when you live in Grimma.

What Cologne and London gave me

I didn’t start in the middle of nowhere.

Kölner Design Akademie. Middlesex University London – graduated with First Class Honours. Then Isobar, Newcast, Strichpunkt. Large agencies, large clients, large machines.

I was a cog. Sometimes a conscious one, sometimes blind.

But I learned how those machines work. How decisions travel. What brands look like from the inside when no pitch deck is covering them. And I met people who still shape me today.

That was my real education. Not university.

What Grimma gives me

No hype. No obligatory networking events. No need to be seen.

Instead: focus. And the daily honest question to myself – because no one else is here to ask it.

I work from here for Ringier, DFL Digital Sports, A Bola and Krüger. Internationally. Remotely. With the same standards I learned in Cologne.

So far, it works.

The question I ask myself anyway

I hope it stays that way.

That I remain relevant to global players from Grimma. That the work continues to speak for itself, even without conference appearances or agency corridors.

That’s not certainty. It’s a bet – on substance over presence.

And I’m not always sure I’ll win it.

The honest answer

No – don’t just move to the middle of nowhere when you’re starting out.

Go where there’s friction. Where agencies, mistakes and demanding clients shape you. Build your foundation there – not your network. Networks fade. Craft doesn’t.

And once the foundation is solid?

You can work from anywhere. Whether that also holds true from Grimma – I’m currently finding out.